


Death is an Old Friend

by LazyFrostine



Series: When the World Burns [3]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Character Death, Eventual Happy Ending?, Eventual Relationships, F/F, F/M, Graphic descriptions of violence, Heartbreak, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Major Character Injury, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Burn, mentions of past rape
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:53:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27236815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazyFrostine/pseuds/LazyFrostine
Summary: Reaper's regrets finally make themselves known as past relationships and memories begin to come forward. Reaper continues to run from it but eventually he'll have to make a decision that will either kill him or the people he used to love.
Relationships: Past Reaper | Gabriel Reyes/ Original Character(s), Past Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison/ Vincent, Past/ Brief Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison & Angela "Mercy" Ziegler, Reaper | Gabriel Reyes/Original Character(s), Reaper | Gabriel Reyes/Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison, Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison/Original Character(s)
Series: When the World Burns [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1985551
Kudos: 1





	Death is an Old Friend

**Author's Note:**

> Whelp, this just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I've had this headcannon for awhile now and I've got a lot of it fleshed out.

Reaper leaned over the edge of the roof. Below Tracer was sitting on top of a trash bin playing a game on her phone. There was no one else in sights.

 _Odd._ Reaper thought leaning away and taking stock of the agents that had been sent with him. The captain Mauga stood at the ready. Sombra had said earlier that the traitor had finally contacted Overwatch and he would be here tonight.

Reaper motioned to one of the agents and they split off to stand where he had been standing. Reaper walks towards the door and Widowmaker appears.

“Status?” She asks, even though she knew the answer.

“She hasn’t moved and seems no one is coming.” Reaper reports, as they walked together to peer over the roof. Tracer had shifted into a leaning position. She seemed to be talking to someone in her ear. She bounced up and the expression on her face morphed into one of panic.

“Hold.” Reaper snarled as the agent near him shifted with their gun.

“Engaged.” Sombra said.

Tracer then vanished down the alley next to her. Reaper motions to the group and they head down to the ground floor.

_________

Five minutes later the sound of shouting fills the air. Reaper motions to the group to stay put as he leans against the window frame just out of sight. A few minutes after that, Genji appears at the mouth of the alley. He looks around and motions behind him before heading back in.

“Where is Mercy when you need her?” Tracer complains, as she and Genji appear carrying a heavy load.

“She was with Baptiste.” Genji replies, with teeth clenched. Reaper can see that Genji is helping Tracer hold a body and at the same time he is keeping the wound on his side closed.

“Red Team successful. Overwatch is scattered. Currently cut off from their medics.” Sombra’s voice fills the mics.

“Currently trying to hack their comms.” She finishes before everything is silent again. One of the agents shifts and Reaper growls at their impatient. 

“What was that?” Tracer asks as she pauses.

“Don’t know but we need to head back to the drop ship.” Genji urges. They continue moving. Reaper waits until they are halfway down the street before he motions for them to follow.

“Hacked.” Sombra suddenly says and,

“What is your status?” Winston’s voice fills his head.

“Pinned down.” Mercy grits out. Baptiste hums in answer. The sound of gunfire can be heard in the background of their voices.

“D.Va?”

“Coming in hot.” The Korean Meka Pilot calls. A distant explosion filters to them in the alley.

“Pharah and Shrike?”

“I’ve lost sight of Shrike.” Pharah’s cool voice answers.

 _She sounds so much like her mother._ The thought passes Reaper by.

“Shrike answer.” Winston asks. Her particular comms crackles.

 _Didn’t think a small team could take her out._ The thought is grim, it causes Reaper to grin.

“Genji?”

“Tracer and I have Soldier 76…” Genji replies, he and Tracer have vanished. Reaper chases after him and he can hear distantly, Windowmaker following along on the roof tops.

“What is your status.” Winston says as Reaper rounds the corner.

“Injured and bleeding. Soldier 76 isn’t breathing.” Genji admits after a few minutes.

“How long has he not been breathing?” Mercy grits out after being patched in.

“Don’t know, he isn’t responding to nanite injections.” Tracer explains. Reaper can hear her give the old Soldier another injection.

“Can you get Mercy and I out of here? How close are you to the drop ship?” Baptiste asks. Reaper knows the team behind him are grinning. Baptiste would die tonight, and Reaper couldn’t find himself caring. His one target was right in front of him.

“What do we have here?” Reaper asks pulling himself together right in front of the trio.

“Oh, why hello!” Tracer says somewhat cheerily. Reaper grins wider as they begin to back up.

“Who-“

“Hello ape.” Reaper teases tapping his comms.

“Reaper.” Winston says gravely.

“Heading your way.” Baptiste says.

“No stay away!” Genji shouts.

“They can’t hear you.” Sombra cackles cutting Genji and Tracer off from their friends.

“Get ready to take the Traitor out.” Mauga commands and his team breaks out preparing to get rid of the traitor. Reaper pulls out a shotgun and points it at Genji. He was too injured to jump out of the way and Tracer cannot let her Accelerator get hit.

“Lena, we have to leave him.” Genji whispers.

“We can’t.” She tries to argue.

“Sniper.” Widowmaker says coolly. Reaper looks up to see Widowmaker launch herself from one roof to another firing towards the other sniper. Reaper fires at Genji but he and Tracer have dropped Soldier 76 and are already scaling the wall.

“They’re getting away, Lopez and Rian break off.” Reaper growls. The two agents begin firing and following the two getting away.

“Marine with me.” Reaper says walking towards Soldier 76. He had been carefully shielded with a shield bomb. But Soldier wasn’t moving, he was slumped over like a rag doll, and Reaper’s heart began to betray him.

“Sombra.” He growls banishing the anxiety.

“I see it.” She answers as Marine tosses one of Sombra’s devices onto the extended shield.

“Red Team give me a status report on Soldier 76.” Marine says pulling out supplies to get ready to check his vitals.

“He took heavy fire.” Li whispers.

“That guy is a monster.” Kanna complains.

“Three rocket blasts, a good splattering of bullets and the OR-14s threw him a couple of times.” Captain Port growls.

“Get back into the fight.” They add to their team. Reaper liked Captain Port’s unit they reminded him of his past one.

Reaper watches as the blue shield trembles under Sombra’s assault. He looks the old Soldier over. Blood is slowly pooling underneath him from his wounds and his boots. His front is shining purple under the flickering light of the shield.

“From what I can tell he’s lost a lot of blood. And if what intel says, he should be up and standing by now.” Marine explains gesturing to the bloody drag marks and all of the blood.

“Super soldiers need to be ripped apart or one well aimed bullet to the head or heart to really go down.” Reaper says memories of past comrades and subordinates dying in the Omnic Crisis. Marine snorts bringing Reaper back to the present.

“Finally.” He mutters as the shield begins to blink out of existence. The shield gives a high-pitched wine before vanishing. Marine is on top of Soldier 76 in seconds. She rips off Soldier’s mask and an old friend is staring unseeingly at the sky. Twin scars cut through Jack’s once handsome face. He would still have been handsome if he didn’t look half-starved and withered. Jack’s right eye was half closed with burn scarring around it.

 _His comms must have burned into his face. I hope it hurt._ Reaper thinks. Jack looks like he did eons ago when he was dying in Reaper’s arms in the Santa Anan desert.

“We don’t have the tools to try and resuscitate him. It would have healed eventually but the state his body is in… I’m surprised his lived as long as he has, probably a long-term issue.” Marine finally says getting up and moving away from Jack.

“Oh?” Reaper accidently let’s escape. Marine doesn’t seem to notice.

“Well, if he’s been living on the streets then he would still be going and have been healed by now, possibly even as he was shot. But this damage is at least two decades old, he was probably being starved or improperly healed at the way his body is- was.” She explains pointing with a boot at Jack’s ribs.

“Bright bug in route.” Sombra interrupts before Marine can explain further.

“Everyone fall back, we need Soldier alive.” Reaper calls out and everyone backs off just as Mercy appears above all of the roof tops carrying another person. They begin firing and Reaper and his team dodges and lets them through.

 _It won’t work._ Reaper thinks as Pharah runs in as backup, Mercy swoops in and drops Baptiste on the roof. Mercy spreads her wings as her allies lay covering fire.

“It won’t work!“ A voice shouts.

“Helden Sterben Nicht!” Mercy cries anyway. The world turns bright gold and then returns to normal.

“Helden Sterben Nicht!” She calls again. Silence fills the alley.

“What did you do?” She screams falling on top Jack.

“I told you it wouldn’t work.” The voice from earlier sighs.

“You can’t revive the dead when they’ve let go.” The voice adds as Reaper sees a figure walking into the alley and Reaper’s heart freezes in his chest.

“How do you know?” Mercy sobs scooping Jack into her arms and racing to the roof.

The figure just grabs Mercy’s ankle causing them to all fall to the ground.

“How dare you!” Mercy screams. The person grabs at Mercy’s wings, but Mercy kicks her off.

“Retreat!” Pharah shouts and Mercy begrudgingly takes flight into the air. Soon the three Overwatch agents vanish.

“Leave Reaper.” The woman says. It has been 10 years since he’s seen her. She’s decked out in a military uniform, with the Wife of Death resting in her hands.

“I wouldn’t try and retrieve the Widowmaker.” The woman adds drumming her fingers against the deadliest Sniper Rifle in the world.

“Did you owe her a bullet?” Reaper flirts. The woman just stares at him and then grins.

“She hasn’t gotten her bullets yet.” She coos.

“See you later Miss. Swallow.” Reaper says beginning to walk away. She wouldn’t shoot him unless he gave her a reason to.

“That’s Master Sergeant to you.” She sings.

 _She had never been the military type_. Reaper thinks mournfully after his dead lover and the secretary whose loyalty had ruined her career. 

“We can’t just leave Widowmaker.” Sombra cuts in.

“Suck it up Sombra. Doomfist wouldn’t be pleased if he lost all of his agents to the Queen of the Dead.” Reaper explains as they make their way to their own drop ship.

“Who?” Sombra asks, Reaper can imagine the search results already.

“You won’t be able to find anything.” Reaper snarls knowing full well Sombra is already trying to look for information. She lets out a high-pitched whine as her search turns up nothing. The Red Team soon appears and they all march on knowing full well who the Queen of the Dead is. They had all met her before on battlefields and missions gone wrong. Reaper wondered what Secretary Swallow was going to do, he also wanted to know how far she had fallen after the Overwatch Tribunal. As he settles into the dropship, he begins cleaning his guns wondering what would happen to Jack.


End file.
